Fictional setting in comic books published by DC Comics
Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name in Justice League of America #21 (August 1963), after The Flash #123 (September 1961) explained how Golden Age (Earth-Two) versions of characters such as the Flash (Jay Garrick) could appear in stories with their Silver Age counterparts (Barry Allen). This Earth-One continuity included the DC Silver Age heroes, including the Justice League of America.
Earth-One, along with the four other surviving Earths (Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X) of the DC Multiverse, are merged into one in the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. This Earth's versions of characters were primarily the Earth-One versions (i.e. Superman, Batman), but some characters from the four other worlds were also "folded" in. In Infinite Crisis, Earth-One was resurrected and merged with the primary Earth of the publication era to create a New Earth that brought back more aspects of Earth-One's original history. In 2007, a new version of Earth-One was created in the aftermath of events that occurred within the 52 series.[2]
Characters from DC Comics were originally suggestive of each existing in their own world, as superheroes never encountered each other. This was soon changed with alliances being formed between certain protagonists. Several publications, including All-Star Comics (publishing tales of the Justice Society of America), Leading Comics (publishing tales of the Seven Soldiers of Victory) and other comic books introduced a "shared-universe" among several characters during the 1940s until the present day.
Alternative reality Earths had been used in DC stories before, but were usually not referred to after that particular story. Also most of these alternative Earths were usually so vastly different that no one would confuse that Earth and its history with the so-called real Earth. That would change when the existence of another reliable Earth was established in a story titled "Flash of Two Worlds"[3][4] in which Barry Allen, the modern Flash later referred to as Earth-One (the setting of the Silver Age stories) first travels to another Earth, accidentally vibrating at just the right speed to appear on Earth-Two, where he meets Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart.
Major events
More Fun Comics #101 (1945): the first appearance of Superboy.[5] According to canon, the Superman of Earth-Two did not fight crime until reaching Metropolis as an adult, therefore this is the first appearance of Earth-One in comics.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 (1954): debut issue of spinoff title for supporting character from the Superman series.[7] Superman and Batman books unofficially make the switch from the Earth-Two characters to the Earth-One characters, though it was not apparent at the time.
Showcase #4 (1956): popularly the first Earth-One comic (though not mentioned in text as such), featuring the introduction of Barry Allen as The Flash.[9]
The Flash #123 (1961): "The Flash of Two Worlds", a story in which Barry Allen meets Jay Garrick. This is the first story to explain the concept of the Multiverse, namely that the actions of Barry Allen and Jay Garrick took place on separate but similar Earths.[3]
Showcase #34 (1961): the first appearance of Ray Palmer, the Atom of Earth-One.[15]
Justice League of America #21 (1963): "Crisis on Earth-One", the first team-up between the JLA and the JSA, which became a yearly feature in the Justice League of America comic. This is the story in which both Earth-One and Earth-Two were first given names.[16]
Justice League of America #100 (1972), the story that establishes that the Green Arrow and Speedy appearing in the 1940s were the Earth-2 Green Arrow and Speedy. This annual JLA/JSA team-up featured the return of the Golden Age superhero team the Seven Soldiers of Victory, of which the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy were members[18][19][20]
Swamp Thing #1 (1972): the first adventure of Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing.[21] The story won the 1972 Shazam Award for Best Original Story.
Justice League of America #244 and Infinity, Inc. #19 (1985): the final team-up of the Justice League and the Justice Society before Earth-One and Earth-Two are merged.[22][23]
Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 (1986): The issue in which Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four (the home of the Charlton Comics heroes), Earth-S (the home of the Fawcett Comics heroes), and Earth-X (the home of the Quality Comics heroes) were combined into one reality, hereafter known as New Earth.[24]
DC Comics Presents #97 (1986): "Phantom Zone: The Final Chapter", the last official Earth-One story.[25]
Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 (1986): "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", the last story of the Superman of Earth-One,[26] though it is technically classified as an Imaginary Story and not an official Earth-One story. It features cameos by several other Earth-One heroes.[27][28]
Destruction
Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) was an effort by DC Comics to clean up their continuity, resulting in the multiple universes, including that of Earth-One, combining into one. This involved the destruction of the multiverse, including Earth-One and the first appearance of the post-Crisis Earth.
Post-52 version
At the end of the Infinite Crisis limited series, the realigned world is called "New Earth". There are now 52 universes: "New Earth" (a.k.a. Earth-0), and Earths-1 to 51. In the final issue of the 52 weekly series, it is revealed that fifty-two duplicate worlds have been created and all but New Earth have been altered from the original incarnation.[2]
Batman's Earth-One costume is available for download in Batman: Arkham City (2021).[33]
In the CW series The Flash (2014–23), the Flash team encounters metahumans and doppelgangers of friends and colleagues from another inter-dimensional Earth, which they dub "Earth-2" while referring to their own as "Earth-1". Harrison Wells of Earth-2 takes some umbrage at this; although he generally accepts the terminology, he occasionally reminds Cisco Ramon and Barry Allen that his Earth can, from his perspective, be called Earth-1.
Earth-1 is mentioned in Injustice (2021), where Mister Terrific tells Superman during one scene that he is mapping out the multiverses and muses on the idea that while he would call his universe Earth-1, all their counterparts would do the same with their own universes. This is acknowledged when Mister Terrific recruits the help of an alternate Superman from what Terrific calls Earth-9, which makes the alternate Superman mention that he is from Earth-1 and that they are Earth-22.
^ a bMcAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. This classic Silver Age story resurrected the Golden Age Flash and provided a foundation for the Multiverse from which he and the Silver Age Flash would hail.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 73: "Jimmy Olsen got his own adventures in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1. A comic remarkable for its inventiveness and longevity, it ran for 163 issues."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 77: "The Martian called J'onn J'onzz debuted as a regular feature in Detective Comics #225. 'The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel', by writer Joe Samachson and artist Joe Certa, gave the origin for the lonely Martian Manhunter."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 80: "The arrival of the second incarnation of the Flash in [Showcase] issue #4 is considered to be the official start of the Silver Age of comics."
^Herron, France (w), Papp, George (p), Papp, George (i). "The Rainbow Archer" Adventure Comics, no. 246 (March 1958).
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 90: "Wonder Woman's origin story and character was given a Silver Age revamp, courtesy of writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 95: "DC had decided to revamp a number of characters to inject new life into the genre. Writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane ensured that Green Lantern got his turn in October [1959]'s Showcase #22."
^Fox, Gardner (w), Kubert, Joe (p), Kubert, Joe (i). "Creature of a Thousand Shapes!" The Brave and the Bold, no. 34 (February–March 1961).
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 103: "The Atom was the next Golden Age hero to receive a Silver Age makeover from writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 109: "The two-part 'Crisis on Earth-One!' and 'Crisis on Earth-Two!' saga represented the first use of the term 'Crisis' in crossovers, as well as the designations 'Earth-1' and 'Earth-2'. In it, editor Julius Schwartz, [writer Gardner] Fox, and artist Mike Sekowsky devised a menace worthy of the World's Greatest Heroes."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 146 "It was taboo to depict drugs in comics, even in ways that openly condemned their use. However, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams collaborated on an unforgettable two-part arc that brought the issue directly into Green Arrow's home, and demonstrated the power comics had to affect change and perception.
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe (i). "The Unknown Soldier of Victory!" Justice League of America, no. 100 (August 1972).
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe (i). "The Hand That Shook the World" Justice League of America, no. 101 (September 1972).
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe; Giordano, Dick (i). "..And One of Us Must Die!" Justice League of America, no. 102 (October 1972).
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 153: "Following his debut in House of Secrets #92 in 1971, the Swamp Thing grew into his own series, albeit with a reimagining of his origins by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson."
^Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 220: "In 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?', a two-part story written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Curt Swan, the adventures of the Silver Age Superman came to a dramatic close."
^Moore, Alan (w), Swan, Curt (p), Pérez, George (i). "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" Superman, no. 423 (September 1986).
^Moore, Alan (w), Swan, Curt (p), Schaffenberger, Kurt (i). "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" Action Comics, no. 583 (September 1986).
^"DCU in 2010: Welcome to Earth One". DC Comics. December 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
^Jackson, Leah (August 1, 2011). "New Batman Arkham City Bonus Costumes Revealed – Earth One, The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, And More". G4. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
External links
Earth-One, Earth-Two, Crisis on Infinite Earths at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016.
